Google Makes Its Most Popular Typeface More Flexible Than Ever, Gives It Away

Image via Material.io

You may constantly encounter this font family without realizing it. Roboto is the default font for Android, and it’s also Google’s most popular typeface. Now, it’s even bigger, bringing more variability to over 2.5 billion observers worldwide.

In February, the tech giant expanded the already diverse superfamily to include ‘Roboto Serif’. However, given Roboto’s omnipresence in the mobile operating system, the company figured much more could be done to make Roboto “as flexible as possible.”

So, meet ‘Roboto Flex’, which Google Fonts describes to be its “biggest project to date.” The open-source font, designed by type foundry Font Bureau, packs a wide spectrum of weights and widths spanning a complete array of optical sizes.

Image via Material.io

Roboto Flex features 12 incredible axes. And like the rest of the family, it’s variable, offering creatives myriad options—from wafer-thin to larger than life—and control in a single font file. The expansions make Roboto Flex “super scalable, adaptable, customizable, and optimizable,” describes Google Fonts consultant Sarah Daily.

According to Google, the font made its initial appearance in blog headlines last year.

“With this many ways to gain more control over your design, Roboto Flex can help you solve just about any typographical challenge you may have,” says David Berlow of Font Bureau.

Image via Material.io

Roboto Flex is now available to install on Google Fonts in Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic.

[via Material.io]